By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

The Steiner Ranch Master Association board hosted its third town hall meeting on Nov. 7 at Towne Square Community Center where a dozen members of the community took the floor to give their thoughts on the HOA board’s consideration of moving the community from in-house management to third-party, for-profit management. 

The purpose of the meeting was to update homeowners on independent consultant community management evaluations and next steps regarding for-profit, third party management request for proposals. The HOA board posted documents for review on the HOA website at the end October. They had some copies to pass around at the town hall meeting.   

More than 35 residents attended the meeting and most of the feedback to the divided HOA board was to slow the process down on making any major shifts in management. Some who spoke think the board needs more information and that it needs to validate current information with apples-to-apples comparisons. Others question why hasn’t the current management been given guidance, directives and time to make changes that are being sought in another management structure.

However, a couple people commented that they think it is time for a shift to a different management structure which estimates show would save money for the HOA.

The HOA board is divided and in a stalemate on how to proceed. Naren Chilukuri, Amy Colton, and Rekha Garapati tend to vote on making changes in the management structure, and Erika Fletcher, Robby Roberts and Dave Doman tend to vote for slowing down the process and getting more information before making this decision. Craig Smyser resigned from the board after the first town hall meeting.                                           

“We want to address… over spending in operations. There is huge room for improvement. Those are concerning to me,” said Chilukuri, president of the board who addressed the homeowners at the start of the town hall.

“When I look at other communities myself, Avery Ranch, River Place, Travisso, Rough Hollow that have onsite management companies that don’t have 15 employees, that have three or four or five employees… I think we can genuinely evaluate saving potential costs and improve services and funnel savings back into the community,” Chilukuri said.

The financials of the community have gone through audits over this past year and a number of issues were addressed that led back to the way developer Taylor Morrison did business. A year ago is when the developer-lead community transitioned to the homeowner-led community. The 2016 audit was approved in August of this year.

“It’s a really big decision (to move away from our current management structure),” said Fletcher, vice president of the board who differs in opinion. “I would like to convey from another perspective of the board. There are potential issues with the organization. I’ve never been a part of an organization without issues,” she said. “The HOA staff never has been given a time to improve or guidance, or a performance review. They walked into a mess after the developer-controlled (community). My position, and I encourage that of the community, is to get behind the staff, get into some facts… talk to residents of (other third-party managed communities). ”

Fletcher challenges how the $1.5 million in proposed savings over three years with third-party management is possible when the proposed contract that is being considered is a one-year contract.

Fletcher concluded her opening statements with: “What do we have today and how do we help staff be more productive?”

“We want to better our community. We want to be considerate of the cost we’re spending on salaries. We want to make sure we’re running an efficient operation whether with the current management or another management company,” said Colton, board member.

“I’m a fairly neutral person and open minded. I want to see openness, transparency, better accountability and better value,” said Roberts, board treasurer. He added later in the night that some of the board wants to have the management proposals reviewed by an independent CPA but other board members did not at this time.

Clint Brown is the attorney who worked with the prior HOA board during the transition. He has been present at board meetings and the three town hall meetings.

The following is a sampling of statements given at the meeting.

Former SRMA HOA board president Bill Menzies, who was on the board for three years before the current board, was first to speak.

“Please slow down,” Menzies said. “Have owners engaged in this process to improve services and costs, have (new potential management) requirements validated by (current) HOA staff, work toward getting another analysis.”

“The process has been broken… and rushed,” Menzies said. From the first two town hall meetings, “the overwhelming majority said slow down.”

 

Homeowner Geoff Stevenson said that the Lakeview community in Steiner fired the HOA management because of the “appalling lack of services.” The 55 homes brought in an outside management company.

“Service is poor and inadequate and cost is high… are the reasons (Lakeview) left and the Fairways,” said Chilukuri.

The point was brought up that a simple, one-question survey needs to ask the residents: “Do you, the homeowner, want an outside management or inside management?”  

Paul Riedl is a homeowner who owns several rental properties in other communities. He knows first hand that for-profit management companies raise prices each year. Additionally, “they insist on sending letters on violations and collecting more fines.”

Cyndee Rust has been in Steiner a long time. Her parents had the third house in the community in 1989.

She asked several questions and made some points. The HOA board directs the staff which runs the community. The community has been independent of the developer since December 2016. The current board has three new members who were elected in April 2017 and one new board member resigned after the first town hall meeting to leave an open board seat.

“It is not been very long to make this huge development’s executive director get this HOA up and running on its own to become its own entity,” Rust said. She indicated that there was a skeleton staff to run the HOA and it has had no time to make adjustments that are being considered.

There would be transition costs, Rust pointed out. She also asked about the costs of a new software platform.

“A skeleton crew when the developer left cannot do the day in and day out (responsibilities) and fix years worth of financial accounting (issues) that were missed,” Rust said.

She suggests a process improvement plan to the HOA staff to “process issues that can and should be addressed with the executive director and not the board.”

“Give appropriate time to get new systems up and running,” Rust said. “Work with him (the ED) instead of against him.”

Chilukuri said he has seen examples where communities are managed by fewer staff members with “better” management. “(Steiner records) shows salaries have gone up significantly, and (staff) is operating in an inefficient manor,” he said.

“We’ve not been given adequate time to evaluate,” said Roberts.

Brad Stanton, homeowner and Steiner Stars Swim Team president, spoke up.

“Slow down, get the facts out there, let us, the community, vote. Let the majority vote stand,” he said.

Tom Hildner has been in Steiner since 2006.  

“After hearing from all members of the board, the system is broken,” Hildner said. He cited examples of outsourcing that under-funds facilities, and where costs go up and services go down.

Michelle Strauss has been in Steiner 12 years. She had never been to an HOA board meeting and was surprised by the “bickering”. She worked as a director of operations for 15 years.

“I don’t understand (the board) not working with staff after it had just changed from Taylor Morrison, to now having a staff without real leadership.”

“I don’t think (the staff) has been given a fair opportunity,” Strauss said. She believes that a third-party structure will raise rates, and said it is wrong not to let the current staff be given a chance to do what they need to do. “And I do believe this is going too fast.”

Kirti Gami said that input hasn’t been collected. Some of the technology upgrades and extra office hours of the HOA can be done without changing management.

“Do the right thing as far as everybody is involved. The community would like to vote on this topic,” said Gami, who thinks that a survey needs to be taken and that data needs to be used.

Dick Clark wants to see good service for a fair price and he does not think the community is getting that right now.

“My question is why not do it (change management). The level of service, in all my interaction, is somewhat negative. Change is hard,” he said. “It’s your (the HOA board’s) decision not the public’s decision, 14,000 could care less.

Bill Ham has been here just six months and he thinks says his Naples, Fla. association created a strategic plan that was effective and involved a community survey.

Richard Mastric said it seems that the No. 1 reason to outsource is to save money but he cautions that the current shortcomings in the current operations have not been fully analyzed or explained.

“People elect to live in this community. They prefer quality rather than living on the cheap,” Mastric said. “I think this population really wants quality.”

If Steiner shifts its management, it can be like “jumping off a cliff with no way back,” he added.